To All My Fellow Citizens of the United States. Before You Go To The Polls To Vote From This Point Forward Please Think About The Following
There are a lot of things we can improve on however we all love Our Freedoms and Our Rights. In order to protect all of them we have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible. It’s up to all of us to fact check the nominees before voting them into office.
Most of us have cellphones, computers or IPads to
vet the nominees. Almost every one who runs for public office has a Wikipedia page that I have found to be mostly accurate by fact checking against other reputable sources. I also find some Substacks to be credible sources of accurate information such as Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Steve Schmidt (a Former Republican), who founded the Lincoln Project podcast, Steady, Dan Rather and Elliot Kirshner’s Substack, to name a few. I also listen to Podcasts that I have found credible because they fact check before they air or they fact check during their live Podcasts. Some I’ve found credible are Mehdi Hasan, Five Minute News, The MeidasTouch Network, The Young Turks, Mea Culpa, Brian Tyler Cohen, The Daily Beans, The Lincoln Project to name a few.
The once (Grand Old Party) has become the anti democracy party. They prove it every day with their interviews and continued support of the FPOTUS! If each one of us fact check Trump and his flock of sheep you will see just how many of them we have given a license to lie and spread misinformation and disinformation.
If you refuse to take on this responsibility to find out what’s true and what isn’t you might as well reserve your ticket for your seat on Trump’s Caravan of Buses heading to HELL!
Speaking of cognitive decline, I hope people are paying close attention to just how politically inferior Trump is verses President Biden. All you have to do is LISTEN to what each of them is saying. It’s so obvious that one is all about himself while the other is leading his administration in an effort to protect our country and to help ALL Americans not just the ones that voted for him and his team.
Unfortunately most of the middle class has become ignorant about how economies work and therefore take the easiest way out, by blaming the President, rather than looking at the richest Americans and Corporations and THEIR profit margins. If we don't wake up soon and make some major adjustments our "democracy" will be lost...
As usual, great going, Dr. Reich, since America needs the union turnaround once again, just like it did after World War II. Only a strong middle class can ensure widespread prosperity and a healthy democracy. As Hitler and his ilk showed in the 30's and Trump and his are showing us today, fascists and authoritarians can only feed off mass discontent. Come on everyone, get unionized!
From the outside looking in, I am unable to understand why the workers are never given the option of equity as retention, and incentives. It is a simple way to reward and engage, workers.
Automobile industry is dying with only a handful of automakers globally that will survive. Unfortunately, Ford or General Motors, do not have a high probability of survival today without municipal, state or federal benefits.
It very much looks like crony capitalism wants to extract as much as it can, in this dying industry before it is bankrupt.
If anyone wanted to truly save the automobile industry, it would be apparent to give equity, fair benefits to the workers, and partner with them to save the industry.
Hear, hear--income inequality can stagnate economies and give the rich far too much power. I am not sure about anyone else, but I certainly don't want to labor under an oligarchy. The Republicans and perhaps a few Democrats don't really care--if on no one is fighting for us, we must fight for ourselves.
Capitalism is akin to a team sport without a referee. Even the father of modern Capitalism Adam Smith recognised the value of imposing societal norms upon the workings of Capitalism via regulatory laws. Ethical standards have declined in relation to both employee treatment and consumer protection and constructing a tax system that penalises share buybacks to boost executive bonuses would be a useful start.
Fear of communism was what allowed unions to grow. When that fear subsided, unions were blamed for everything (Ronald Reagan). The stock market is so computerized the little guy doesn't stand a chance (whatever happened to the transaction tax?). Unions can be a pain in the butt, but they may be our best hope for a middle class.
Proud 30-year (now lifetime) member of Writers Guild of America, West, here. Striking again, and picketing with younger members who deserve the same earning capacity that I was fortunate enough to experience. Ours is truly an existential strike - like The Ukrainians, if we lose we cease to exist; if the adversary loses, they go back to their private jets and mega yachts.
What truly is Tragic is the large percentage of American workers who are NOT represented by Unions and work for even lower wages than Union Workers! Labor continues to be exploited in this country. The first 20k of all wages should be tax free. The next 20k of earnings should be at 5%. Capital Gain Tax rates should be at 40% not 20%. Irrevocable Trusts should be denied for Estate Tax planning. ESTATE Taxes should be charged on all Estates over 6 million dollars not 12 million dollars. This would personally cause me grave tax consequences but it would result in a greater good being accomplished and reward the very people that produce goods and services we all benefit from. We need to move from tax greed mentality of the wealthy to tax motivation for the productive !
I agree with Prof. Reich that the worker unrest going on right now is good for America. There has been so much lying and misinforming going on in the past decades that it is a relief to hear people openly talking about the value of unions and how courageous it is for the unions to strike when the corporations just somehow can't pay workers reasonable wages in relation to the salaries the guys (nearly always men) at the top pay themselves. The fact that many restaurant workers are still paid around $2.16 an hour plus tips is outrageous. They are mostly not unionized. Flight attendants' time clock does not start until the doors of the plane are closed and the plane is about to take off. Whoever heard of such a ridiculous plan. The attendants have so much work to do when the plane is loading and unloading and not to be paid for that! Unions can be problematic, like the "police unions" which only support the whole when the whole looks like and goes along with the leadership. However, most unions do a good job for workers. Companies benefit too because turnover is usually lower and contracts can let the corporation know what costs will be for workers the duration of the contract, providing some stability. Maybe we need a TV series about union organizers who go around helping workers to unionize. Maybe it would raise workers and unions even further in the eyes of the public.
I'm 68 years old and I grew up hearing my blue collar father say, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Economic inequality is my third most important political concern surpassed only by #1 climate change and #2 preserving what we have left in this country of our functioning democratic principles and institutions in the wake of Citizens United and the capturing of the Supreme Court by Republican reactionaries. While climate eclipses politics and economic justice in the long run, the urgency of regaining Democratic governance in the interest of once again reestablishing democratic governance is a short-term matter of existential importance.
Agreed. It should be obvious that repealing Taft-Hartley would also provide a gigantic boost to union formation; replacing Sinema and Manchin and the GQP House loons with progressives would do the trick. Perhaps Biden should then announce new legislation to reform labor-management relations to be more like the less antagonistic bargaining systems in Germany or Japan, which would be a lasting achievement. (I do worry, though, that it would mean losing political points with a Gen Z more excited for aggressive labor activism than in previous generations, a point I made to Clyde Prestowitz when he criticized the strikes.)
Reich wrote something quite important "But something far more basic is going on here. As I travel around the country, I hear from average working people an anger and bitterness I haven't heard for decades".
And one outlet for these feelings is through union acitivity we're seeing
But TFG and the rightwing has been able to channel this anger against anything that restricts their power.
Their narrative against the "deep state", aka the Federal government , continues. Listen to some of this Sen Hawley questioning of Energy Sec Granholm and read the comments on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LetXp2DJhiA
He is whipping up anger against Federal employees and the Feds generally. Some of the public is angry that civil servants have been able to still have a middle class life, and even a pension. Their anger is being misdirected away from wealthy elites who have made their own lives worse and denied them pensions in many cases. I think the Dems have to do a better job in directing the public's economic injustice anger, and why a Dem President is someone on their side.
Hawley was financially backed by the Missouri asbestos king Humphreys (who has also bought many House and Senate seats in the Missouri legislature) to get him elected to MO attorney general, and then into the Senate. Humphreys now regrets he put Hawley in the Senate.
If our Democratic candidates in Missouri could get even crumbs from some of the well-heeled democrats on the east and west coasts, not to mention national orgs, we would immediately stop the Republican supermajority in Missouri which would help nationally by beating back some of the extremism. https://bluemissouri.org/ We only need 4 seats to flip the Missouri House and Colin Lovett lost the 100th house district by only 1%. Hint. https://votelovett.com/about/
CEO/Executive pay raise rates should be equal to worker pay raises. 1:1 is fair, IMO. If the company can afford to give the CEO a 40% raise, then the company can afford to give workers a 40% raise too.
When the CEO says a 40% pay increase for himself AND workers would break the company, the obvious reply from reporters should be "then why do you get a 40% pay increase? Why not 25-30% pay increase for you AND workers? Why not be fair and SHARE the profits made possible by the workers?"
Thank you Robert for your continued labor positive point of view. I’m sure my father is smiling from his great beyond at your great sage words as they remind me so much of how he used to analyze and think you’re keeping the economic truths alive and any thinking American who is labor aware should to be grateful for the economic and political truth you tirelessly expose! May labor, and our labor positive president win in the end and...BIG!!!
Higher pay and labor costs don't stop exploitation of labor. The Wealthy merely just raise prices on goods and services and the victory is short lived and only benefits briefly those represented by the unions. The Tax Code is the only way where all labor both Union and Non-union can be properly rewarded for the goods and services that benefit all Americans. It is time we take action against non-working unproductive non tax paying Trust fund recipients. Labor needs rewarded in this country NOT the unproductive wealthy live like parasites off the hard work of labor.
Why labor activism is good for America
To All My Fellow Citizens of the United States. Before You Go To The Polls To Vote From This Point Forward Please Think About The Following
There are a lot of things we can improve on however we all love Our Freedoms and Our Rights. In order to protect all of them we have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible. It’s up to all of us to fact check the nominees before voting them into office.
Most of us have cellphones, computers or IPads to
vet the nominees. Almost every one who runs for public office has a Wikipedia page that I have found to be mostly accurate by fact checking against other reputable sources. I also find some Substacks to be credible sources of accurate information such as Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Steve Schmidt (a Former Republican), who founded the Lincoln Project podcast, Steady, Dan Rather and Elliot Kirshner’s Substack, to name a few. I also listen to Podcasts that I have found credible because they fact check before they air or they fact check during their live Podcasts. Some I’ve found credible are Mehdi Hasan, Five Minute News, The MeidasTouch Network, The Young Turks, Mea Culpa, Brian Tyler Cohen, The Daily Beans, The Lincoln Project to name a few.
The once (Grand Old Party) has become the anti democracy party. They prove it every day with their interviews and continued support of the FPOTUS! If each one of us fact check Trump and his flock of sheep you will see just how many of them we have given a license to lie and spread misinformation and disinformation.
If you refuse to take on this responsibility to find out what’s true and what isn’t you might as well reserve your ticket for your seat on Trump’s Caravan of Buses heading to HELL!
Speaking of cognitive decline, I hope people are paying close attention to just how politically inferior Trump is verses President Biden. All you have to do is LISTEN to what each of them is saying. It’s so obvious that one is all about himself while the other is leading his administration in an effort to protect our country and to help ALL Americans not just the ones that voted for him and his team.
Unfortunately most of the middle class has become ignorant about how economies work and therefore take the easiest way out, by blaming the President, rather than looking at the richest Americans and Corporations and THEIR profit margins. If we don't wake up soon and make some major adjustments our "democracy" will be lost...
As usual, great going, Dr. Reich, since America needs the union turnaround once again, just like it did after World War II. Only a strong middle class can ensure widespread prosperity and a healthy democracy. As Hitler and his ilk showed in the 30's and Trump and his are showing us today, fascists and authoritarians can only feed off mass discontent. Come on everyone, get unionized!
From the outside looking in, I am unable to understand why the workers are never given the option of equity as retention, and incentives. It is a simple way to reward and engage, workers.
Automobile industry is dying with only a handful of automakers globally that will survive. Unfortunately, Ford or General Motors, do not have a high probability of survival today without municipal, state or federal benefits.
It very much looks like crony capitalism wants to extract as much as it can, in this dying industry before it is bankrupt.
If anyone wanted to truly save the automobile industry, it would be apparent to give equity, fair benefits to the workers, and partner with them to save the industry.
Hear, hear--income inequality can stagnate economies and give the rich far too much power. I am not sure about anyone else, but I certainly don't want to labor under an oligarchy. The Republicans and perhaps a few Democrats don't really care--if on no one is fighting for us, we must fight for ourselves.
Capitalism is akin to a team sport without a referee. Even the father of modern Capitalism Adam Smith recognised the value of imposing societal norms upon the workings of Capitalism via regulatory laws. Ethical standards have declined in relation to both employee treatment and consumer protection and constructing a tax system that penalises share buybacks to boost executive bonuses would be a useful start.
Fear of communism was what allowed unions to grow. When that fear subsided, unions were blamed for everything (Ronald Reagan). The stock market is so computerized the little guy doesn't stand a chance (whatever happened to the transaction tax?). Unions can be a pain in the butt, but they may be our best hope for a middle class.
Proud 30-year (now lifetime) member of Writers Guild of America, West, here. Striking again, and picketing with younger members who deserve the same earning capacity that I was fortunate enough to experience. Ours is truly an existential strike - like The Ukrainians, if we lose we cease to exist; if the adversary loses, they go back to their private jets and mega yachts.
What truly is Tragic is the large percentage of American workers who are NOT represented by Unions and work for even lower wages than Union Workers! Labor continues to be exploited in this country. The first 20k of all wages should be tax free. The next 20k of earnings should be at 5%. Capital Gain Tax rates should be at 40% not 20%. Irrevocable Trusts should be denied for Estate Tax planning. ESTATE Taxes should be charged on all Estates over 6 million dollars not 12 million dollars. This would personally cause me grave tax consequences but it would result in a greater good being accomplished and reward the very people that produce goods and services we all benefit from. We need to move from tax greed mentality of the wealthy to tax motivation for the productive !
I agree with Prof. Reich that the worker unrest going on right now is good for America. There has been so much lying and misinforming going on in the past decades that it is a relief to hear people openly talking about the value of unions and how courageous it is for the unions to strike when the corporations just somehow can't pay workers reasonable wages in relation to the salaries the guys (nearly always men) at the top pay themselves. The fact that many restaurant workers are still paid around $2.16 an hour plus tips is outrageous. They are mostly not unionized. Flight attendants' time clock does not start until the doors of the plane are closed and the plane is about to take off. Whoever heard of such a ridiculous plan. The attendants have so much work to do when the plane is loading and unloading and not to be paid for that! Unions can be problematic, like the "police unions" which only support the whole when the whole looks like and goes along with the leadership. However, most unions do a good job for workers. Companies benefit too because turnover is usually lower and contracts can let the corporation know what costs will be for workers the duration of the contract, providing some stability. Maybe we need a TV series about union organizers who go around helping workers to unionize. Maybe it would raise workers and unions even further in the eyes of the public.
I'm 68 years old and I grew up hearing my blue collar father say, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Economic inequality is my third most important political concern surpassed only by #1 climate change and #2 preserving what we have left in this country of our functioning democratic principles and institutions in the wake of Citizens United and the capturing of the Supreme Court by Republican reactionaries. While climate eclipses politics and economic justice in the long run, the urgency of regaining Democratic governance in the interest of once again reestablishing democratic governance is a short-term matter of existential importance.
Agreed. It should be obvious that repealing Taft-Hartley would also provide a gigantic boost to union formation; replacing Sinema and Manchin and the GQP House loons with progressives would do the trick. Perhaps Biden should then announce new legislation to reform labor-management relations to be more like the less antagonistic bargaining systems in Germany or Japan, which would be a lasting achievement. (I do worry, though, that it would mean losing political points with a Gen Z more excited for aggressive labor activism than in previous generations, a point I made to Clyde Prestowitz when he criticized the strikes.)
Reich wrote something quite important "But something far more basic is going on here. As I travel around the country, I hear from average working people an anger and bitterness I haven't heard for decades".
And one outlet for these feelings is through union acitivity we're seeing
But TFG and the rightwing has been able to channel this anger against anything that restricts their power.
Their narrative against the "deep state", aka the Federal government , continues. Listen to some of this Sen Hawley questioning of Energy Sec Granholm and read the comments on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LetXp2DJhiA
He is whipping up anger against Federal employees and the Feds generally. Some of the public is angry that civil servants have been able to still have a middle class life, and even a pension. Their anger is being misdirected away from wealthy elites who have made their own lives worse and denied them pensions in many cases. I think the Dems have to do a better job in directing the public's economic injustice anger, and why a Dem President is someone on their side.
BTW, if Hawley turns your stomach he has a good challenger in Lucas Kunce who is a HUGH antitrust advocate. https://lucaskunce.com/meet-lucas-kunce/
Hawley was financially backed by the Missouri asbestos king Humphreys (who has also bought many House and Senate seats in the Missouri legislature) to get him elected to MO attorney general, and then into the Senate. Humphreys now regrets he put Hawley in the Senate.
If our Democratic candidates in Missouri could get even crumbs from some of the well-heeled democrats on the east and west coasts, not to mention national orgs, we would immediately stop the Republican supermajority in Missouri which would help nationally by beating back some of the extremism. https://bluemissouri.org/ We only need 4 seats to flip the Missouri House and Colin Lovett lost the 100th house district by only 1%. Hint. https://votelovett.com/about/
CEO/Executive pay raise rates should be equal to worker pay raises. 1:1 is fair, IMO. If the company can afford to give the CEO a 40% raise, then the company can afford to give workers a 40% raise too.
When the CEO says a 40% pay increase for himself AND workers would break the company, the obvious reply from reporters should be "then why do you get a 40% pay increase? Why not 25-30% pay increase for you AND workers? Why not be fair and SHARE the profits made possible by the workers?"
Thank you Robert for your continued labor positive point of view. I’m sure my father is smiling from his great beyond at your great sage words as they remind me so much of how he used to analyze and think you’re keeping the economic truths alive and any thinking American who is labor aware should to be grateful for the economic and political truth you tirelessly expose! May labor, and our labor positive president win in the end and...BIG!!!
Higher pay and labor costs don't stop exploitation of labor. The Wealthy merely just raise prices on goods and services and the victory is short lived and only benefits briefly those represented by the unions. The Tax Code is the only way where all labor both Union and Non-union can be properly rewarded for the goods and services that benefit all Americans. It is time we take action against non-working unproductive non tax paying Trust fund recipients. Labor needs rewarded in this country NOT the unproductive wealthy live like parasites off the hard work of labor.